Boys Club

Last night on The Ed Show on MSNBC, there was a segment that made me absolutely fucking livid.

Darrell Issa, for those who don’t know, is a Republican serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. His big thing these days is to hold big important Congressional hearings on virtually every single thing Barack Obama has done since becoming president. Most recently, he held a big important hearing on Obama’s mandate that all employers, including religious institutions, include contraceptives in their health insurance coverage (the fact that this has since been walked back to allow an exception for said religious institutions apparently doesn’t matter).

Now, you might think that since this issue is ultimately about women’s health, it might not hurt to have an actual woman whose life would be affected by this be allowed to make a statement. You might think so, but Mr. Issa knows better. He personally rejected the one witness requested by Democrats: Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown University law student. Why? According to Issa, because she’s not a member of the clergy. In other words, “Sorry, GTFO so us dudes can hang out.”

Ed Schultz had Ms. Fluke as his guest on the show last night, and she explained what she would have talked about had she been allowed to testify. You really should hear this, and then think about how much of a cold son of a bitch you’d have to be to say to her, “Nope, sorry, your testimony isn’t relevant.”

It’s really fascinating to see how hard-right Republicans have gone on the birth control issue, and women’s health in general. You guys do know that women can vote now, right?